How to Turn a Customer Centric Approach Into Your Biggest Competitive Advantage

Adopting a customer centric approach is more important than ever for achieving scalable revenue growth. In this episode of the “Predictable B2B Success” podcast, host Vinay Koshy engages in a compelling conversation with seasoned marketer Martin Pietrzak, who shares valuable insights from his extensive experience in the tech, SaaS, and startup growth space. Despite the prevalent mindset among many companies to cast a wide net, Martin proposes the advantages of narrowing market focus and truly aligning with customer needs.

This episode sheds light on several key challenges B2B companies encounter, ranging from complex buyer journeys to organizational silos that hinder empathy and data sharing. With engaging anecdotes and practical examples, Martin emphasizes the power of strategic discovery and empathetic listening in uncovering opportunities for differentiation and success. Discover how your business can transform potential obstacles into growth catalysts through a renewed focus on genuine customer connections.

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About Martin Pietrzak

Martin Pietrzak’s journey is marked by a passion for technology, even when his initial aspirations seemed to be at odds with it. In high school, Martin contemplated a future as an artist despite the strong influence of his father, a computer engineer. Although he dabbled in coding during his school years, Martin found the experience uninspiring. However, his fascination with technology never waned. Faced with the prospect of becoming a high school art teacher, he sought a different path that would allow him to blend his interests. This introspection set the foundation for a career that harmonizes creativity with technological innovation.

Understanding the Power of Customer Centricity in B2B

Companies today face significant challenges in driving sustainable revenue growth. The complexity of B2B customer journeys, organizational silos, and outdated technology often hinder businesses from genuinely connecting with their customers. However, adopting a customer centric approach can transform these challenges into opportunities for growth.

A customer-centric approach prioritizes customers’ needs and expectations at every stage of their interaction with your organization. It involves designing and delivering products, services, and experiences that meet or exceed customer expectations to build long-term relationships and foster customer loyalty. This approach is particularly valuable in B2B, where buying cycles are extended, and multiple stakeholders are involved in purchasing decisions.

Martin Pietrzak, head of Pinch Marketing and a seasoned marketer with over two decades of experience in the tech, SaaS, and startup growth space, emphasizes that narrowing your market focus and adopting a customer-centric approach can lead to more scalable revenue growth1. This perspective challenges the prevailing belief that casting a wider net is better for business.

The B2B Challenge: Why Customer Centricity Matters

B2B companies face unique challenges that make a customer-centric approach beneficial and essential. According to Martin Pietrzak, one of the primary obstacles is the complexity of B2B customer journeys. Gartner reports that the average buying group consists of six to ten decision-makers, making it difficult to maintain a narrow focus and deliver a consistent customer-centric experience across all touchpoints.

Another significant challenge is the prevalence of organizational silos. Research indicates that 52% of businesses report that functional silos prevent data sharing, hindering the ability to be truly customer centric. Creating a cohesive customer experience becomes nearly impossible when departments don’t communicate effectively.

Additionally, many organizations struggle with outdated technology and processes. They’ve become complacent with problematic systems and data processes, failing to adopt new technologies that could enhance their customer centric capabilities. This technological lag can significantly impact a company’s ability to understand and respond to customer needs effectively.

The Myth of “Everyone is Our Customer”

One of the most common pitfalls in B2B marketing is the belief that “everyone is a customer.” This mindset creates a messaging gap because crafting relevant, targeted messaging becomes challenging when the audience is too broad. As Martin explains:

“CEOs and the C-suite of smaller organizations and big alike, they think that perhaps their product or service is designed for everybody, which, of course, then creates a bit of a messaging gap because then how can you create really poignant and relevant messaging if everybody is the audience? And then it makes it super difficult for marketers and sales folks to figure out how do I speak to these audiences.”

This approach results in messaging that tries to touch on too many different value points; consequently, nothing truly resonates. Revenue suffers because companies can’t find traction in the marketplace. The solution? Narrowing your focus to identify and target your ideal customers more effectively.

Identifying Your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP)

A crucial step in adopting a customer centric approach is identifying your ideal customer profile (ICP). Martin suggests asking not who you can sell to, but rather who your perfect client is:

“We ask a very simple question sometimes, which is, like, not who can you sell to, but rather who is your ideal client. Right? We talk about ideal client profile or ICP. So really trying to decide, like, who is the best company? So where have you seen the most success?”

This process involves eliminating outliers and focusing on where you’ve seen success. Is it a particular industry, a specific type of client, a certain size of organization, or a particular use case or need that you’re solving well that nobody else can solve?

Through this discovery process, Martin finds that companies can typically narrow to about three audiences that resonate with their offerings. The next step is to test these audiences through market validation:

“We don’t fight them. We don’t question them. We just say, hey. Let’s test it out. And we do a little market validation test. We explain the one thing that’s really missing in this whole equation is, like, what do their customers truly think, and are they really, like, ideal client profile?”

This validation can be done through targeted messaging on platforms like LinkedIn, creating different ads with agreed-upon messaging for the right audiences, and then analyzing which messages truly resonate based on conversions and engagement.

The Role of Empathy in Customer Centricity

Empathy is at the heart of a customer-centric approach—the ability to understand and share your customers’ feelings. Developing empathy requires stepping outside of your perspective and truly listening to your customers’ needs and challenges.

Martin emphasizes the importance of bringing in “customer proxies” during discovery sessions—individuals who have direct contact with customers and can provide insights into their experiences. These proxies might include Business Development Representatives (BDRs), Sales Development Representatives (SDRs), Account Executives (AEs), or customer success professionals:

“I’m always insistent to have those proxies. And in my experience, those two types of individuals that are usually very knowledgeable about what those conversations go with customers look like. A, it could be either the BDR or SDR organization, so the people who are doing prospecting outreach, and maybe they’re the ones really trying to understand qualifying those leads, and then having the AE who’s going to have an ongoing relationship with the prospect throughout that sales cycle until it closes, and then customer success.”

These individuals provide valuable insights that executives might miss, as they deal directly with the people using the technologies and trying to solve their problems. While C-suite to C-suite conversations might be helpful, they often lack the specificity needed to identify the true pain points a company can help solve.

Overcoming the Curse of Knowledge and Optimism Bias

Martin identifies two significant barriers to customer centricity: the curse of knowledge and optimism bias.

The curse of knowledge refers to companies being so steeped in their own business, solutions, and market that they sometimes forget that people outside of it truly don’t understand their solution and its value. Martin explains:

“One of the things that I find is that a lot of customers of mine have something what I call the curse of knowledge. What I mean by that, they are so steeped inside of their own business and their own solutions and their own market that they sometimes forget that people outside of it truly don’t understand their solution and the value that it brings to them.”

This makes it difficult for companies to communicate effectively with potential customers who don’t share the same knowledge or understanding.

Optimism bias, on the other hand, is the tendency for founders and C-suite executives to believe their solution is better than it is at serving a particular need in the marketplace. Martin illustrates this with a psychological test:

“They did the psychological test a few years ago. And when they asked the general population, how great of a driver do you think you are? And then 80% of people raised their hand and said they believe they’re above average. So I thought there’s there’s clearly a problem with that. If everybody thinks they’re above average, where’s what does that leave that normal curve with the rest of us?”

This optimism bias is often reinforced by confirmation bias—the tendency to look for confirmation that we are correct. Companies create an echo chamber by surrounding themselves with like-minded individuals who strengthen their beliefs rather than challenge them.

Breaking Through the Status Quo: The 95-5 Rule

One of the biggest challenges in B2B marketing is breaking through the status quo. Martin introduces the concept of the “95-5 rule”:

“We teach them about this concept called 95 to five. I’m not sure if you don’t have that number, but basically, it means that 95% of the market is not ready to buy. And they’re not shopping for anything of that you might be selling them. Only 5%.”

Most potential customers aren’t actively looking to change their current solutions or processes. To overcome this inertia, Martin suggests a storytelling approach that follows these steps:

1. Paint a picture of how the world is changing: Show potential customers that the status quo might not fit in this new world. For example, the COVID-19 pandemic forced companies to adapt to remote work, making on-premises infrastructure insufficient for a distributed workforce.
2. Highlight the challenges this new world brings: For instance, with remote work, employees no longer have physical access to servers in the office building, creating connectivity and access issues.
3. Present possible solutions to these challenges: Acknowledge that doing nothing is an option, but then outline the potential consequences of inaction.
4. Introduce your solution: Show how your product or service addresses these challenges in a way that aligns with the changing world.
5. Provide proof points: Through case studies, testimonials, and concrete examples of success, demonstrate why your solution is better than competitors’ offerings.

This approach helps potential customers see the value in changing their current processes or solutions, making them more receptive to your offerings.

Customer Centric Approach Throughout the Customer Journey

A customer-centric approach encompasses the entire customer journey beyond the initial sale. Martin emphasizes the importance of customer retention and the role of onboarding in fostering long-term relationships:

“I was once asked to when I was still in the corporate environment, I was asked to part of be on part of the retention team of for the company. They started seeing some issues with losing customers, and they didn’t quite understand why. So they wanted me to come in as a marketer and say, hey. Can we throw something as individuals and bring them back? And what I finally quickly found out is that it’s at that point, it’s too late.”

Martin compares trying to win back disgruntled customers to saving a failing marriage with a vacation—it’s unlikely to address the underlying issues. Instead, he suggests starting the retention process at the beginning of the relationship with a comprehensive onboarding process:

“How do we onboard the customer? How do we welcome them? How do we ensure that they have a really good experience to get to how do they feel really good about just paying the first bill with you? So maybe like a welcome package and how tos, how to use the product, how do we make sure that they have a really great experience with their account manager, customer success person to to feel like they’re supported.”

Martin found that customers who were onboarded quickly, learned how to use the product efficiently, and shared it internally had much higher retention rates than those who were left to their own devices. By implementing time-based communications based on where customers were in their journey, his team improved retention rates by four percentage points, translating to millions in value.

The Impact of Changing Consumer Behavior on Customer Centricity

A critical aspect of customer centricity that often gets overlooked is the changing nature of consumer behavior. Martin warns against making assumptions that your customers aren’t changing:

“I think that’s a bit of a huge risk. Right? Is this idea that not only everybody’s our customer, but everybody who is our customer is not changing. And we know that’s quite different.”

Consumer behavior has changed dramatically in recent years, particularly during the pandemic, when people started consuming content differently. Generational changes also play a significant role—millennials now occupy the majority of stakeholder and decision-maker positions, and they consume content and make purchasing decisions differently than previous generations:

“They’re they’re much more educated. They’re they love to do their own research.”

Companies must stay attuned to these changes and adapt their customer centric approaches accordingly. This might involve exploring new channels, creating different types of content, or adjusting messaging to resonate with changing preferences and behaviors.

Implementing a Customer Centric Approach: Practical Steps

Implementing a customer centric approach requires a systematic process. Based on Martin’s insights, here are practical steps B2B companies can take:

1. Challenge Your Assumptions

Start by challenging your assumptions about your customers and your value proposition. Martin explains that his team excels at “challenging our customers. And what I mean by that is rather than just taking their word for why they think they’re good in the marketplace, we’re trying to challenge them a bit.”

This involves bringing together various stakeholders, including the C-suite and those who interact directly with customers, to discuss what the customer experience looks like and what customers truly value about your service, people, and experience.

2. Conduct Discovery Sessions

Hold discovery sessions that bring together different perspectives within your organization. Martin notes that “even just getting a few stakeholders in one room is quite revealing.” These sessions often reveal misalignments in how different departments perceive the company’s value and customer needs.

During these sessions, encourage participants to “dumb it down” and explain the company’s value as if speaking to someone who knows nothing about the solution. This helps overcome the curse of knowledge and forces more empathetic thinking about customer needs.

3. Identify and Test Your Ideal Customer Profile

Through discovery sessions, identify potential ideal customer profiles. Then, test these profiles through market validation:

“We look at some of we we create these different types of ads with the messaging that was agreed upon to the right audiences. And then we spend a few thousand dollars and figure out, like, what message truly really resonates.”

This process helps identify which audience segments and messages generate the most engagement and conversions, providing data-driven insights for refining your customer centric strategy.

4. Develop a Multi-Layered Content Strategy

Create content that addresses different stages of the customer journey and resonates with various stakeholders involved in the buying decision. Martin advocates for a “multifaceted, multi-layered approach, multichannel approach so that we can test not only the messaging but also the medium and the channels.”

He suggests creating “waterfall pieces of content”—starting with a premier piece like an ebook or white paper and then breaking it down into smaller pieces such as ads, articles, audio ads, podcasts, interviews, and webinar content. This allows you to test which components resonate best with your audience and refine your content strategy accordingly.

5. Implement Comprehensive Onboarding

Develop a comprehensive onboarding process that helps new customers quickly realize value from your product or service. This might include welcome packages, how-to guides, and personalized support from account managers or customer success representatives.

Martin found that –

“those individuals who signed up the quickest, they learn how to use the product the quickest, they start sharing that internally and start using all the features, they had a much higher retention rates for those who just left to their own devices and hoping for the best.”

6. Establish Ongoing Communication

Maintain regular communication with customers throughout their journey. Martin suggests implementing “time-based type of communications depending on where they are in that cycle.” This might include:

• Pre-signing communications that set expectations
• Post-signing instructions for logging in and adding users
• Content showcasing how others have succeeded using your platform or service
• Personalized recommendations based on usage patterns

With the advent of AI, this level of personalization has become much more accessible, allowing companies to make communications super relevant to each customer’s specific situation and needs.

Measuring the Success of Your Customer Centric Approach

Tracking the right metrics is essential to determine whether your customer centric approach drives revenue growth. Based on Martin’s insights, here are the key metrics to consider:

1. Lead Quality and Conversion Speed

Rather than focusing solely on the number of leads generated, measure the quality of leads and how quickly they convert to opportunities. Martin explains that in B2B contexts with long, complex sales cycles, “leads in this instance are a little bit less important as much as the high quality leads are super critical.”

Track metrics such as:

• Time from lead generation to qualification
• Percentage of leads that convert to opportunities
• Time from opportunity creation to close

2. Pipeline Acceleration

Measure how marketing efforts help the sales organization push opportunities through the pipeline. This might include tracking:

• Average sales cycle length
• Percentage of deals that advance to each stage of the pipeline
• Win rates at different stages

3. Customer Retention and Expansion

Track metrics related to customer retention and expansion, such as:

• Customer retention rate
• Customer lifetime value
• Expansion revenue from existing customers
• Product adoption and usage rates

Martin’s team’s customer-centric initiatives improved retention rates by four percentage points, translating to millions in value.

4. Customer Engagement

Monitor customer engagement with your content and communications, including:

• Open rates and click-through rates for emails
• Engagement with content across different channels
• Participation in webinars, events, or community forums

5. Customer Feedback and Satisfaction

Collect and analyze customer feedback to gauge satisfaction and identify areas for improvement. This might include:

• Net Promoter Score (NPS)
• Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT)
• Customer Effort Score (CES)
• Qualitative feedback from customer interviews or surveys

Case Study: Healthcare Technology Provider

Martin shares a compelling case study of a large integrator and managed service provider trying to go to market with their managed services around cloud security. The company initially believed its strength lay in its team and the positive feedback it received from clients after the sale. However, it struggled to articulate what brought clients to it in the first place.

After conducting discovery sessions and message testing, they discovered that healthcare was a strong vertical for them. Their research made a surprising discovery: nursing staff were significant influencers in the buying cycle, a stakeholder group they had never specifically targeted.

“They realized that the head nursing staff members were quite influential because those are the people that obviously work with this technology the most, and they have quite a lot of say.”

While IT professionals were important for implementing the technology and checking off feature requirements, the nursing staff was primarily concerned with the user experience for themselves and their patients. This was particularly crucial during the COVID-19 pandemic when nursing staff were overworked and understaffed.

By developing messaging that spoke directly to the concerns of nursing staff and focusing on how their technology could improve the patient experience, the company saw a significant increase in conversions and generated numerous high-quality leads. Although the sales cycle in healthcare is complex and lengthy, the early results showed promising signs of success.

This case study illustrates a customer-centric approach’s power to identify unexpected stakeholders and develop targeted messaging that addresses their specific needs and concerns.

Adapting to the Changing B2B Landscape

The B2B landscape constantly evolves, and companies must adapt their customer centric approaches accordingly. Martin highlights several key trends that are shaping the future of B2B customer centricity:

1. Generational Shifts in Decision-Making

Millennials now occupy the majority of stakeholder and decision-maker positions, bringing different expectations and behaviors to the purchasing process:

“I look at the statistics and the millennials are now I think majority of the stakeholders and decision maker seats are now millennials. And again, they consume content and differently and they purchase things differently, right? They’re they’re much more educated. They’re they love to do their own research.”

Companies need to adapt their customer centric strategies to align with these changing preferences, potentially placing greater emphasis on self-service information, digital content, and transparent pricing.

2. Changing Content Consumption Patterns

The way people consume content is changing rapidly, particularly among younger generations:

“I think I can just look at my teenage son who’s 16, how he’s consuming TikTok and the watch while watching playing PS5 or PS4. Their attention spans are shrinking and how content and how marketing messages are consumed is quite different than it was, you know, just few years.”

B2B companies need to consider these changing consumption patterns when developing content strategies. They could potentially create shorter, more visual, or more interactive content to engage modern buyers.

3. The Impact of Technology on Consumer Behavior

Technology is driving significant changes in consumer behavior:

“I think technology is driving consumer behavior and how it’s changing quite rapidly.”

Technology is reshaping how B2B buyers discover, evaluate, and select products and services, from AI-powered research tools to social media’s influence on purchasing decisions. Companies must stay attuned to these technological shifts and adapt their customer-centric approaches accordingly.

4. The Growing Importance of Personalization

With advances in AI and data analytics, personalization has become more accessible and expected by B2B buyers. Martin notes how personalized communications can enhance the customer experience:

“Now with AI, I think that level of personalization is so much easier to do, right, to say, let’s make it super relevant to them.”

Companies that leverage data and technology to deliver personalized experiences throughout the customer journey will have a competitive advantage in the evolving B2B landscape.

Conclusion: The Future of Customer Centricity in B2B

As B2B companies navigate an increasingly complex and competitive landscape, adopting a customer-centric approach becomes not just a nice-to-have but a necessity for driving sustainable revenue growth. By narrowing their market focus and truly understanding their ideal customer profiles, businesses can create targeted messaging that resonates with their audience, leading to higher-quality leads and faster conversion rates.

Martin Pietrzak’s insights highlight the importance of empathy and understanding in customer-centricity. By challenging assumptions and involving customer proxies, companies can better understand their customers’ needs and pain points. This empathetic approach helps businesses develop solutions that truly solve customer problems, fostering long-term relationships and loyalty.

The impact of customer centricity on revenue is significant. Research shows that customer-centric companies grow their revenues 4% to 8% faster than their competitors, primarily due to increased customer satisfaction and retention. By prioritizing customer experiences, businesses can differentiate themselves from competitors and achieve higher profitability.

Staying attuned to consumer behavior shifts is crucial. Generational changes, technological advancements, and evolving content consumption patterns significantly influence how B2B buyers interact with companies. Businesses must adapt their customer-centric strategies to align with these changes, leveraging data analytics and technology to deliver personalized experiences that meet their customers’ evolving needs.

Ultimately, a customer-centric approach is not just a strategy; it’s a cultural shift that places the customer at the center of every decision. By embracing this mindset, B2B companies can unlock new avenues for growth, build lasting relationships, and drive long-term success in an increasingly competitive landscape.

Some areas we explore in this episode include:

• The importance of narrowing market focus and adopting a customer centric approach for scalable revenue growth.
• The complexity of B2B customer journeys and the need to maintain a narrow focus.
• Organizational silos and their impact on data sharing and customer-centricity.
• Challenges faced by organizations due to outdated technology and processes.
• Martin Pietrzak’s journey into marketing and the creation of Pinch Marketing.
• The common perception among C-suite executives that their product is for everyone and the implications on marketing and revenue.
• The role of proxies within organizations to better understand customer experiences.
• Strategies for identifying ideal customer profiles and differentiating messaging for various stakeholders.
• The introduction of empathy and customer-centricity in the discovery process and its impact on strategy.
• The significance of storytelling in overcoming market inertia and engaging potential customers.
• And much, much more…

Listen to the episode.

Related links and resources

Connect with Martin Pietrzak

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